Innovation Awards finalists 2018: Baker Hughes and ISPAS

We congratulate Baker Hughes, a GE company and ISPAS as the two first finalists to be nominated for the ONS 2018 Innovation Awards. Baker Hughes is nominated for the technology “TerrAdapt Adaptive Drill Bit” – the first and only smart bit that can adjust depth-of-cut control (DOCC) downhole, in real time, to optimize efficiency. ISPAS is nominated in the “small and medium enterprises” (SME) category, for their advanced oil-spill radar “New Generation OSD Radar”. More finalists will be announced soon.

Baker Hughes, a GE company introducing: TerrAdapt Adaptive Drill Bit

Drilling through hard or interbedded formations can cause unwanted torsional vibrations that can lead to “stick- slip”—the uncontrolled rotational acceleration and deceleration of the bit, bottom hole assembly (BHA), and/or drill string. Stick-slip can result in poor directional control, inconsistent rate of penetration (ROP), invisible lost time, and costly non-productive time due to premature bit/BHA damage and extra trips. Operators have traditionally controlled drilling parameters to avoid stick-slip events. While this approach can be successful in avoiding stick-slip, it limits the amount of energy delivered to the bit — reducing the ROP potential and severely reducing drilling efficiency. Baker Hughes, a GE company’s TerrAdapt adaptive drill bit improves bit performance and BHA life by proactively mitigating stick-slip and impact loading without any interaction from surface. This platform expands the smooth drilling window, allowing operators to focus on maximizing performance.

The TerrAdapt adaptive drill bit is the first and only smart bit that can adjust depth-of-cut control (DOCC) downhole, in real time, to optimize efficiency. Each TerrAdapt adaptive drill bit has proprietary, replaceable, self- adjusting DOCC elements installed inside the bit blades. The elements have a tuned hydro-mechanical response to loading conditions. When the elements sense loading, they automatically extend until the loading is absorbed, protecting the cutters, bit, BHA, and downhole electronics. As vibrations subside, the elements slowly retract, enabling maximum ROP and preventing dynamic instability and damage. This autonomous adjustment pattern is repeated throughout the run as loading conditions change, effectively extending the cutting structure life and optimizing drilling efficiency.

In short; the new drill bit is the first and only smart bit that can adjust depth of cut control downhole, in real time, to optimize efficiency. Using automation to mitigate downhole dysfunctions can deliver dramatic improvements in drilling performance and economics through faster, more consistent rates of penetration, longer bit/tool life, and significantly reduced non-productive time and invisible lost time without any intervention from surface – with reduced environmental risk as one of the benefits.

Originally, the TerrAdapt concept was developed as part of an internal Baker Hughes innovation contest that challenges employees to think of a solution to a common industry problem that is not being addressed with current R&D projects. Out of more than 1,000 submissions, the idea of a self-adjusting bit won the inaugural challenge, and the winner was given the next 12 months to build a team to take the winning idea from concept to proven solution. The idea went from concept to market in less than three years!

To date, BHGE has successfully deployed the TerrAdapt bit more than 100 times worldwide, and the market potential is significant. The global market for drill bits is approximately $2.7 billion USD per annum, and the benefits of the application is beyond doubt: In most drilling environments, there is significant invisible lost time (ILT) and non-productive time due to energy loss and drilling assembly damage as a result of downhole vibration, with estimates showing that more than 30% of drilling costs are due to ILT, costing the industry billions of dollars of lost productivity.

ISPAS introducing: New generation OSD radar

ISPAS has come up with an advanced Oil Spill Detection (OSD) radar with dual polarization, electronically scanned antennas that can map the sea surface and detect oil-spill on both quiet and coarse sea using high resolution polarimetry.

The radar can detect oil spill on quiet and coarse sea using a higher radar frequency, Ku- band, and dual polarized antennas. According to the Norwegian “Aktivitetsforskriften”, oil shall be detected on the sea surface independent of the weather, something which has not been possible until now. Oil spills are normally detected indirectly as a dampening of sea waves using X-band radar systems, but X-band radars are designed for navigational purposes and reflection from sea waves are thus minimized.

The ISPAS OSD radar is using a higher frequency to optimize radar reflections from the sea and is using the polarization to detect the presence of oil on the surface by using the one polarization that is transparent to oil as a reference and the other polarization that is affected by the oil as a detector. By looking at the relationship between the two polarizations oil-spill can both be detected, and relative thickness estimated. This enables ISPAS OSD radar to detect oil-spills in all weather conditions, so oil-spill clean-up can be initiated early, thus minimizing damage to the environment.

So far, four radars have been installed on the Edvard Grieg platform and have been tested for more than 20.000 operating hours, with six more radars to be installed on the Johan Sverdrup field complex for monitoring of oil- spills in 2020. Given the industry’s increased environmental awareness, the market potential is clear. Because the radar has no moveable parts and is designed to have minimum maintenance and can be used for both vessel traffic monitoring as well as wave height and sea current measurements, the total cost of the system is less than comparable solutions.

ISPAS see several potential applications of the new radar; it has been tested both for detection and classification of ice-bergs, snow and rock-hazard avalanches detection and mapping and measurements of glacier movements where a lateral mapping of the velocity field is required. The fast scanning antenna, i.e. covers 100 degrees in less than 0.2 second, is also very useful for detecting distressed people in the sea waves because the high scanning rate creates a “floodlight” effect that will illuminate the person when the person is visible on top of a wave.

ISPAS expects to continue developing new products and services based on the experience from the work on this new radar.

About ONS Innovation Awards

Through the Innovation Awards ONS recognize the crucial importance of cutting-edge products and solutions. The awards reflect our long-standing commitment to presenting and promoting innovative ideas to the international oil, gas and energy industry.

This year ONS received a total of 127 applications/nominations. 56 companies applied for the Innovation Award and 56 companies applied for the SME Innovation Award. The jury has nominated five finalists to compete in each category.

The ten finalists will present their technologies in the session “Meet the Innovation Awards finalists” Monday 27 August at ONS Technical Sessions.

The Innovation Awards Ceremony is held at the Conference session “Leadership: Stimulate to innovate”, Tuesday 28 August. The Awards will be presented by Chair of Innovation Award, Norwegian Research Council.

The first ONS Innovation Award was presented in 1982. The winner was Norwegian Contractors for Condeep – a gravity-based structure for a platform built from reinforced concrete instead of steel. In 2004 the SME Innovation Award was established to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises were given the chance to highlight their new developments.

A total of 26 companies have been recognised by the ONS Innovation Award juries for their cutting-edge technologies and solutions.